The Ursas
by Erin T. Aardvark
Summary: "Josie & The Pussycats in Outer Space" setting. Josie and the gang land on a planet inhabited by small teddy bear-like creatures
1. Prologue

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story originally started out as a collaboration between me and my sister, for my "Camp Monkee Mallard" site, then I decided turn it into a fic for "Josie & The Pussycats in Outer Space." The "Josie & The Pussycats" characters belong to Archie Comics, but the cartoon was produced by Hanna-Barbera. Reggie MacDowell, Robert Sanderson, Rickholan, Zollah, and the Ursas belong to me. Also, it should be noted that this first part is meant to be the prologue of the series, the second part picks up where the episode "Warrior Women of Amazonia" left off._

* * *

The whole mess started with what was supposed to be a simple visit to Cape Canaveral. The Pussycats were scheduled to perform in a concert. A friend of Josie's, Reggie MacDowell (who was interning for the space program), had the idea of having the Pussycats perform at the launching of a new test shuttle. Valerie's friend, Robert Sanderson, was on the scene as well, taking photos for a local newspaper. As a publicity stunt, the Pussycats and their friends had donned special space suits designed just for them. They rode an elevator up to the ship's entrance, and Robert got his camera ready, and held it up.

"Smile pretty, girls!" he shouted.

"Hmph," Alexandra grumbled. "I'll show that Josie!"

Robert was ready to snap the picture, when Alexandra suddenly jammed herself in front of the entire group, knocking them all off balance. They fell backwards into the ship. In an attempt to regain balance, Valerie grabbed Alexandra's shoulder, but she accidentally pulled her into the ship. When she hit the floor, Alexandra pulled a lever. The ship's door closed, and the ship began to launch.

"Oh no!" Reggie shouted.

"Oh man," Robert groaned. "That Alexandra really messed them up this time!"

"T-minus ten seconds until lift off," a deep voice said suddenly over the computer. "Ten, nine, eight . . . ."

"Uh oh . . ." Alan said.

"Let's get outta here!" Alexander shouted.

"We can't!" Valerie shouted, trying to open the door. "The door's stuck!"

"What are we going to do?" Josie asked.

"Three, two one," the computer voice said. "BLAST OFF!"

With a great rumble, the shuttle's rocket's ignited, and blasted off into space. The high speed knocked everyone off their feet.

"I think I'm gonna be airsick!" Alex moaned.

"That makes two of us!" Alexandra shouted. "I think I left my stomach back on the ground!"

"This must be one of those flight simulators," Melody said. "How groovy!"

"This isn't a flight simulator, Melody," Alan said.

"He's right," Valerie said, pushing buttons on the control panel, trying to control the ship. "We've blasted off into outer space!"

"Hey, neat!" Melody shouted. "We'll be the first singers in outer space!"

The others groaned. Valerie continued to try to get the ship in control, but it wasn't easy. Back on the ground, everyone was in a sheer panic.

"Boy, this'll make some front page story!" Robert shouted.

"Come on!" Reggie shouted, grabbing the photographer's arm. "We'd better get to the control room and find a way to bring them back down!"

Reggie and Robert went down the elevator and into the main control room. They had to find a way to bring Josie and her friends back from outer space.

And that's how it all began.


	2. Going Down

After several weeks, the Pussycats were still lost in outer space, mostly thanks to Alexandra messing things up. This time was different. Once Josie and the gang had left the planet of Amazonia, Valerie had managed to get the ship on a direct course for Earth, finally. Then, Alexander wanted to steer for awhile, and Alan let him, telling him not to let go of the wheel. So what did he do? He let go of the wheel, and the gang was off course once more. And everyone was ready to kill Alex.

"That's the last time we're letting you steer this ship, dear brother," Alexandra said.

"Look, I said I was sorry," Alex grumbled. "I didn't do it on purpose!"

"No, but you sure knocked us off course," Valerie said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, Alexander," Alexandra said, glaring at her brother. "We'd be on our way home right now if you hadn't be so stupid and let go of the wheel!"

"It was just an accident," Alex said. "Boy, you make one mistake . . . ."

Alex leaned back into his seat, and sighed. Melody put her arm around his shoulders, reassuringly, although only moments before, she too, wanted to kill him.

"Don't feel bad, Alexander," she said. "Everyone makes mistakes."

"That's true," Alex said. "Just look at my sister. After all, if it weren't for her, we wouldn't even be in this mess in the first place!"

In response, Alexandra glared at her brother sharply. The Pussycats didn't know where they were going now. All they knew was that they had to get out of this mess and fast.

"I wish I knew how to fly this thing," Valerie said.

"I wish Reggie had blasted off with us," Josie sighed. "He took astronomy and was real interested in the stars and planets. He'd know what to do."

The others had to agree on that one. At least Alan managed to get the ship under control. Unfortunately, their smooth sailing didn't last for very long. Something rammed into the ship, which caused it to shake. Everyone was knocked off their feet.

"What was that?" Alan asked.

Another rumble jolted the ship, and shook it, knocking everyone over again, just as they were starting to get up.

"It's a meteor shower!" Valerie shouted. "And we're heading right for it!"

"Fasten your seat belts," Josie said. "It's gonna be a bumpy ride!"

Everyone scrambled into seats, and buckled their seat belts. Alex bent down as low as he possibly could, squeezed his eyes closed, and held his arms over his head.

"Let me know when it's over!" he moaned.

Alan and Valerie had a hard time controlling the ship. The meteors kept coming at them at an alarming pace, and the shuttle was getting bounced around like ping pong balls in the state lottery.

"Stop the world! I wanna get off!" Alex moaned.

"Hang on, everybody!" Valerie shouted. "If I can only figure out how to gain control of this . . . . ."

"Oh, Valerie!" Alexandra shouted. "How hard can it be? Just push some buttons!"

Alexandra pushed some buttons, and the ship shot forward in a perfectly straight line, practically blasting through the shower. The group was practically thrown to the back of the ship, which had to be traveling at least a hundred miles a minute!

"Wrong button!" Alex yelled. "Somebody slow this thing down!"

"I'm working on it!" Valerie shouted as she reached over and pushed another button. The ship slowed down, and everyone was thrown to the front of it, crashing into a tangle of each others arms and legs.

"Next time, leave the driving to me!" Valerie yelled at Alexandra.

"Smooth move, Quick Fingers!" Alex shouted, sarcastically.

"Ooohhh!" Alexandra groused.

Luckily, the shower didn't last for much longer, and finally, the shuttle made it out, but it looked like it had passed through a trash compactor. And what was worse, the controls were jammed. Valerie and Alan were doing their best to pilot it. They were pulling at the wheel, but it refused to budge.

"Golly, I think now we can only get it to go up, down, and straight," Melody commented.

"You're not helping, Melody," Alex said.

"If you'd just let me take over!" Alexandra shouted. She began and began pushing all the buttons as quickly as she possibly could. This caused the craft to start zig zagging, bouncing, and rotating at thirty-three RPM's.

"Alexandra!" Valerie yelled. "Why do you always have to go and mess us all up?!"

"I wonder if this is how the Merry Go Round broke down?" Melody asked.

"Nice going, sis!" Alex shouted, sarcastically. "Oooohhhh, I think I'm gonna be sick!"

"Now I know what the spin cycle on the washing machine feels like!" Josie shouted.

"Bleeeeep! Bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep!" Bleep cried.

"What'd he say?" Alan asked.

"He said Jane! Stop this crazy thing!" Melody interpreted.

Alan finally pushed a blinking red button, and the space ship stopped dead in the middle of space. However, when it was rotating, the gang was up on the ceiling of the craft. They hung there for a moment, and then fell, crashing right on top of one another.

"That was fun!" Melody shouted. "Can we do it again?"

"Oh brother . . . ." Alex groaned.

"Wow, what a nightmare," Alan groaned. "But at least we're out of the meteor shower."

Suddenly, the shuttle began making jerky motions forward, and began sputtering.

"I recognize that noise," Josie said. "This is exactly what my car started doing right before it broke down."

Suddenly, the shuttle stopped dead in the middle of the sky with one final sputter (which sounded a lot like a dying man's cough), and it began to nosedive. Both Alan and Valerie grabbed the wheel and pulled on it, trying to pull up from the dive. Just when they thought they had it, the wheel broke from the control panel, and Valerie and Alan fell backwards.

"Guess I don't know my own strength!" Valerie shouted.

"They don't make 'em like they used to, that's for sure," Alan said. "Everybody buckle up, and brace yourselves!"


	3. Dooda-Dooda

The Pussycats and their friends scrambled into their seats, buckled up, and braced themselves for the impact. Everyone began screaming as the shuttle came closer and closer to a planet. Once they broke the planet's stratosphere, the shuttle crashed to the ground, and slid until it came to a complete stop, after crashing into the side of a cliff. Smoke began to come out of the shuttle's engine, and sparks flew from the control panel, and it was sizzling as well.

"Is it over?" Alex asked, looking through his fingers. "Are we dead yet?"

"Bleep, bleep, bleeeeeeep," Bleep said, dazedly.

"Anybody get the number of that truck?" Melody asked in a dazed voice as she put her hands on her head, then shook it.

After gaining their senses, the Pussycats left their craft, and looked around. The planet they had landed on was one big, lush, green jungle. Alan and Valerie began to inspect the ship.

"I hope the ship's okay," Alex said.

"I don't know," Alan said, looking it over. "It looks pretty bad."

"Don't worry, Alan," Valerie said. "It's not as bad as it seems. I just need to make some adjustments to the engine, and a refuel, and it'll be good as new."

"Where are we gonna get fuel?" Josie asked.

"And for that matter, where are we?" Alexandra asked.

"There's a sign over there," Alan said, brushing away weeds, vines, and brush. "Looks like it says Dooda-Dooda."

"Dooda-Dooda?" Melody asked. "Why do I suddenly have the urge to sing Camptown Races?"

"I wonder what kind of creatures live on this planet," Josie said.

"Friendly ones, I hope," Alex replied, shaking nervously, and holding Sebastian in a firm (and practically choking) grip.

"Gaaaahhhkkkkk!" the hapless cat coughed. Suddenly, the group heard rustling in the bushes nearby.

"Bleep, bleep!" Bleep shouted, jumping into Melody's arms.

"Nobody make a sound," Alan said. "Or a move."

"Yipe!" Alex shouted, tightening his grip on Sebastian. "G-g-g-good thing I'm sc-sc-sc-scared st-st-st-stiff! Th-th-that means I won't m-m-m-move!"

"Oh Alexander, get a grip!" Alexandra shouted.

"Actually, loosen your grip," Josie commented. "You're gonna squeeze that poor cat to death!"

Alex loosened his grip, only slightly. The rustling continued, until something rolled out of the bush. It was a small, furry creature, larger than Bleep, but smaller than the Pussycats and their friends. It kind of resembled a bear, except this one walked on two legs, and wore some kind of hood.

"Oh, look!" Melody giggled. "It's a cute little space teddy bear!"

"Careful, Melody," Valerie said. "It could be dangerous."

"But he's so cute," Melody said. "How can something that cute be dangerous?"

Before anyone could answer, the little bear-like creature looked up toward the trees, and let out a Tarzan-esque yell. It was shortly followed by another Tarzan-esque yell came from the trees. Then, two figures climbed down from the trees, and approached Josie and her friends. One was an older man, with brown hair, which was going gray, and the other was a young girl, at least fourteen or fifteen. She had dark blond hair, and freckles. Both were dressed in fur outfits that looked as if they were straight out of an old _Flintstones_ rerun.

"What in the world?" Valerie asked.

"Him Tarzan, you Jane?" Melody asked, directing her words at the young girl.

The man and the girl looked at each other, and then at the little bear creature. The little bear creature was the first one to speak.

"Ducasta," he said.

"What did he say?" Josie asked.

"Roterna citernia," the man said. "Zollah une meeya grenitchka."

"Yeesah," the little bear creature said, and ran off into the woods. The man then approached the Pussycats and their friends.

"Welcome," he said.

"You speak English?" Alan asked.

"Yes," the man said. "But we also speak Ursalese."

"What's Ursalese?" Valerie asked.

"The language of the Ursas," the girl said. "You just saw an Ursa a minute ago."

"Oh, the cute little space teddy bear!" Melody shouted.

"Exactly," the man said. "Permit me to introduce myself. I'm Rickholan and this is my daughter, Zollah."

"Nice to meet you," Alan said, shaking Rickholan's hand. "I'm Alan, and these are Josie, Valerie, Melody, Alexander, Alexandra, Sebastian, and Bleep."

"Bleep, bleep!" Bleep shouted, jumping into Zollah's arms and giving her a kiss. Zollah giggled.

"I like Bleep," she said.

"I like him, too," Melody said, with a giggle.

"We'll take you back to the Ursa village and you'll meet the rest of the Ursas," Zollah said, taking Melody's hand.

"I hope they're friendly," Alex said, shaking, still holding Sebastian in a death grip. The cat was clearly not enjoying being held so tightly.

"You have nothing to worry about," Rickholan said. "The Ursas are very friendly."

"That's a relief!" Alex shouted, finally dropping Sebastian. The cat ran away from him as fast as he could.

"Shew!" he breathed.

"Oh, poor Sebastian," Melody said, scooping up the cat, and stroking him from ears to tail.

The group followed Rickholan and Zollah to the Ursa village, which was not far from the crash sight. The Ursa village was pretty primitive. Everywhere the group looked, there were small huts, and larger houses in the trees.

"Dad and I live in a tree house," Zollah explained. "We built it out of parts from our ship when it crashed here on Dooda-Dooda."

"Where are you and your father from, Zollah?" Josie asked.

"A planet called Gamma Seven," Zollah said. "We were traveling through space when our craft went down five years ago. We could have gotten off if we wanted."

"But we just didn't want to," Rickholan said.

"I can understand that," Valerie said. "This planet's like a tropical paradise!"

"We're from Earth," Alan said. "And we're having a lot of trouble getting back there."

"Mostly thanks to my sister," Alex said.

"Ha, ha," Alexandra said, sarcastically.

"We're going to be here for awhile," Valerie said. "Our ship needs fuel, but we don't know exactly how to fuel it. You see, we crashed our space ship here after a meteor shower. We also blasted off into space accidentally, and we don't know much about our ship to begin with."

"Humma plentah!" the Ursa the Pussycats meant earlier shouted.

"What did he say?" Alan said.

"Pickatte knows what will fuel your ship," Rickholan said. "It's called the Humma-Humma Nuka-Nuka Appa-Wapah-ah-ah-ah-ah."

"Oh neat, you just invented a tongue twister!" Melody shouted.

"It grows in the forests," Zollah said. "The Ursas know the exact spot, and Dad knows mechanics. We'll help you gather the plants, and make the fuel you'll need."

"Great!" Josie shouted. "Thanks, Zollah."

"Okay," Alan said. "Alex, Melody, and Alexandra, you go with Zollah and the Ursas go collect the plant. Josie, Valerie, Rickholan and I will start to make repairs to the ship."

"Oh Alan!" Alexandra shouted. "Why doesn't _Josie_ go with Alex and Melody, and _I'll_ stay here and help fix the ship."

"No, Alexandra," Valerie said. "You're going with Melody and Alex. You've messed us up enough times out here, and we don't need you messing us up again!"

"I don't know about this," Alex said. "It could be dangerous! I mean, we don't know what's out there."

"Oh for Pete's sake," Alexandra grumbled. "Don't be such a chicken! You're coming! Let's go!"

And with that, the group separated.


	4. Space Strawberries

Within minutes, Zollah, Pickatte, Alex, Alexandra, Melody, and Bleep were in a large meadow filled with bluish-purple flowers.

"Humma plentah," Pickatte said, tugging on Melody's sleeve.

"Here's the plant," Zollah said. "Let's start gathering them."

"This is going to be fun!" Melody said, with a giggle.

Alexandra just rolled her eyes, and got to work picking the flowers. Alex and Melody did the same thing, and they all started to load them into the cart Pickatte was pushing.

"I don't like it," Alex said. "It's too quiet."

"Don't worry," Zollah said. "There's nothing even remotely dangerous out here. We're as safe as can be. There are only two dangerous animals here on Dooda-Dooda, and those are the Nourla Doon and the Mohnstah Spedyah."

"_What_ in the world are those?" Alexandra asked.

"Well, the Nourla Doon is a dragon like creature," Zollah said. "It's been known to eat anything that moves."

"Yipe!" Alex shouted. "If there was a good time to be scared stiff, I'd say that would be the time!"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about the Nourla Doon," Zollah replied. "They tend to migrate off this planet every year, and it's the middle of their migration season."

"What's the Mohnstah Spedyah?" Melody asked.

"A giant spider," Zollah said, as if she were talking about the weather.

"A g-g-g-giant sp-sp-sp-spider?!" Alex stammered. "Ooohhh, suddenly, I don't feel too well . . . ."

"Alexander, I forbid you to faint!" Alexandra shouted, grabbing her brother's arm before he had a chance to fall over.

"The Mohnstah Spedyah lives in the mountain region," Zollah explained. "And he hardly ever leaves it, and no one has been stupid enough to go to the mountains, especially since those who _are_ stupid enough to go to it never come back."

"Remind me not to go to the mountains," Alex said.

The group continued to pick the flowers when Melody's stomach began rumbling.

"Golly, listen to my stomach growl," she said. "I'm hungry."

"Bleep, bleep!" Bleep shouted in agreement.

"We haven't eaten since we left Amazonia," Alexandra said.

"Come on, Alex," Melody said, grabbing Alex's arm. "Let's go find some food."

"What's edible on this planet, anyway?" Alex asked.

"Any fruit on the trees and bushes," Zollah said. Then she pointed down a path. "Go that way. There are lots of trees and bushes that have fruit growing on them in there."

Alex, Melody, and Bleep left Zollah, Alexandra, and Pickatte to gather the Humma-Humma Nuka-Nuka Appa-Wapah-ah-ah-ah-ah flowers they needed for the fuel. The trio headed for a denser part of the forest, and found various trees, all bearing fruits of all shapes, sizes, and colors.

"Looks like we hit the jackpot, Melody," Alex said.

"Oh goody!" Melody shouted, with a giggle.

"Bleep, bleep, bleep!" Bleep shouted, jumping up and down. He then opened his mouth, and a sort of sound wave came out of it, slamming against one of the trees, causing it to shake. The fruit began falling from it, and Alex and Melody caught what they could.

"Way to go, Bleep!" Melody shouted, with a giggle.

"Hey, Melody, look at this over here," Alex said, kneeling by one of the bushes. It was full of big, red berries. They looked like strawberries on steroids.

"Oh, strawberries!" Melody sighed. "I just love strawberries! These are the biggest strawberries I've ever seen."

"Bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep," Bleep replied.

"Oh don't be silly, Bleep!" Melody shouted. "They look like strawberries, so they must be strawberries! Bleep doesn't think these strawberries are strawberries."

"I agree," Alex said, picking one off the bush. "Strawberries don't grow in outer space."

"They do if they're space strawberries," Melody replied, then giggled. "Try it, Alex. It looks delicious."

"Well, okay," Alex replied. "After all, Zollah said all the fruits on the planet are edible."

"Bleeeeeep!" Bleep shrieked, and he grabbed onto Alex's leg. "Bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep!"

"What's with you, Bleep?" Alex asked.

"He says you shouldn't eat it," Melody said, as she pulled Bleep off Alex's leg. "Calm down, Bleep. It's just a little space strawberry. It can't hurt. And besides, Zollah said all of the fruit was okay to eat."

"Right, and she lives here," Alex said.

"Bleep, bleep, bleeeeeeep!" Bleep shouted, trying to break out of Melody's hold just as Alex took a bite out of the space strawberry.

"How does it taste, Alex?" Melody asked.

"Ecchh, not too good," Alex grimaced. "I don't think these things are ripe yet. Let's just take what we've got back to Zollah and Alexandra and leave these space strawberries where they are."

Melody agreed, and she, Alex, and Bleep gathered up some of the fruit Bleep had knocked off the trees. By the time they returned, Alexandra, Zollah, and Pickatte had gathered enough of the plants to make enough rocket fuel to send the Pussycats back to Earth.

"Dad should fix the ship's navigation to send you home," Zollah said. "Come on. Let's see if they're ready."

Pickatte loaded the flowers into his cart, and pulled it along, leading the way back to the Ursa village. About halfway there, Alex suddenly stopped. He dropped the fruit he was carrying and just stood there, staring blankly into space.

"Alex?" Melody asked, looking over at him.

"Come on, Alexander," Alexandra said, impatiently. "Don't just stand there! We've got to get back to the others! We don't have all day!"

"Is something wrong?" Zollah asked.

"I . . . . I . . . ." Alex started. "Ooohhhhh!"

And with that, Alex collapsed to the ground. Melody dropped all the fruit she was carrying and ran over to him. Alexandra and Zollah rushed over as well.

"Bleep, bleep, bleep!" Bleep shouted.

"Alexander, get up!" Alexandra demanded. "Do you hear me? Get up this minute!"

"Come on, Alex," Melody said, shaking Alex's shoulder. "Wake up!"

"We'd better get him back to the village," Zollah said.

"How?" Melody asked.

"We'll have to carry him," Zollah replied. "Melody, you take one arm, and put it around your shoulders. Alexandra, you do the same with his other arm, and I'll take his legs."

Melody and Alexandra did as they were told, and hoisted Alex's arms over their shoulders. Zollah picked up Alex's legs, and the three of them carried him back to the village. Bleep jumped up and sat on Alex's stomach, while Pickatte just ran his cart towards the village. The others were moving as fast as they could. They didn't know what was wrong, but they did know that they had to get Alex back to the Ursa village and fast.


	5. Shamballa

Pickatte raced into the Ursa village, nearly breaking all speed records. He found Rickholan, Alan, Josie, and Valerie by the ship, and began jumping up and down, panicking.

"Mergenca, mergenca!" he shouted. "Zandahr doonowalla!"

"What?!" Rickholan shouted. "Quetello?"

"Nonan regallio," Pickatte said. "Zollah, Lextrah, Meh-Lo-Dee, une Bleep comma. Soonah, soonah."

"What's going on?" Josie asked.

Before Rickholan had a chance to explain, Alexandra, Melody, and Zollah came running around the bend, carrying an unconscious Alexander. Alan, Josie, and Valerie abandoned what they were working on and ran to them.

"Oh my gosh, what happened to Alex?!" Josie shouted.

"We don't know," Melody said, as she, Alexandra, and Zollah put him down. "One minute, he was fine, and then the next, he just fell over."

"Alex, it's me, Val," Valerie said, as she pulled Alex into a sitting position. She began patting his cheek to get him to wake up. "Come on, Alex. Wake up, can you hear me?"

"Mmmph," Alex mumbled. He turned his head slightly, but that was about it.

"I don't know why you're making such a big deal about this," Alexandra said, folding her arms across her chest. "He's obviously just faking it to get out of working on the rocket fuel!"

"I don't know," Josie said. "Alex sure doesn't look very well. I mean, look at him, he's sweating, his face is flushed, and he's not responding to us."

Valerie put her hand on Alex's forehead. Then she gasped, and a look of panic crossed her face.

"What's the matter, Val?" Josie asked.

"He's burning up!" Valerie shouted.

"What?!" Alexandra shouted. "You mean to tell me he _isn't_ faking it?"

"Let me see," Alan said, as he knelt down next to Valerie and Alex. He put his hand on Alex's forehead, and looked at the others.

"Valerie's right," he said. "It feels like Alex has got a really high fever."

"Oh golly," Josie said. It was the only thing she could think of to say.

"Is there a doctor on the planet?" Melody asked.

"Melody, this is no time for jokes!" Alexandra scolded.

"I'm not joking!" Melody shouted. "I'm serious!"

"Melody's right," Alan said. "If Alex has a fever this high, then we should get him to a doctor."

"But where are we going to find a doctor on a strange, jungle-like planet in outer space?" Josie asked. Rickholan looked over at Pickatte.

"Shamballa," he said, as he lifted Alex off the ground. Pickatte nodded.

"Follante, follante!" he said to the others.

"Come on," Rickholan said. "Follow us."

The others followed until they reached a large bamboo hut. There was a vine hanging from it. Zollah took hold of it, and pulled, causing seashells and coconut halves to rattle together.

"That's the stupidest doorbell I've ever seen," Alexandra said.

"Well, what do you expect in the middle of a big, green jungle without modern conveniences?" Melody asked. "Besides, I think it's groovy."

"You would."

The door opened, and something was coming out of it. It was another Ursa. This one was slightly larger than Pickatte, and had gray and white fur. She looked much, much older than anyone had ever seen before.

"Shamballa!" Pickatte shouted. "Mergenca!"

"Mergenca?" the other Ursa asked. "Urgenzia?"

"Yeesah, yeesah!" Pickatte said.

"Everyone, meet Shamballa," Rickholan said. "She is the village wise woman, the oldest Ursa on the planet, and the only Ursa that can speak English."

"I speak, but I no speak good," Shamballa said. "Who they?"

"Ferones," Pickatte said. "Jo Zee, Meh-Lo-Dee, Valah Rhee, Ahlahn, Lextrah, Bashten, une Bleep."

"Hi!" Melody shouted. "You have a really groovy doorbell!"

"Groo Vee," Pickatte repeated.

"Groo Vee?" Shamballa asked. "What Groo Vee?"

"It's another word for cool," Melody explained.

"Cool?" Shamballa asked. "It no cool. It warm."

"No, cool as in outta site."

"Outta site? What mean outta site?"

"Well . . . ."

"Let me save us an hour," Valerie said, before Melody could go on. "Groovy, cool, and outta site mean something is really, really good. And everything is not good with us!"

"We really need your help," Josie said.

"Come," Shamballa said, stepping aside so the others could come in. "I help. What wrong?"

"It's our friend, Alex," Alan said, as he walked into Shamballa's hut. The others followed.

"We were gathering Humma-Humma Nuka-Nuka Appa-Wapah-ah-ah-ah-ahs to help Josie and her friends make fuel for their space ship," Zollah explained. "We were on our way back, and Alex suddenly collapsed."

"Then we discovered he was running a fever," Valerie said. "And a pretty high one, at that. Then Rickholan took us to see you."

"Are you a doctor?" Melody asked.

"Yeesah, I doctor," Shamballa said. "Rickholan, please to put Ahlecks in hammock."

Rickholan walked over to the hammock Shamballa indicated, and placed Alex in it. Alex moaned, and began shivering. Shamballa took a blanket that was laying on the floor and gave it to Alan. Alan covered Alex with it. Shamballa put her paw on Alex's forehead, and then walked over to a table on the other side of the room. She took a bowl off a shelf, and went to what looked like a well. She started pulling on a rope, until a bucket came out of the well. Shamballa poured it's contents into the bowl, grabbed a cloth laying by the well, and put it in the bowl. She carried them both over to the hammock, handed the bowl to Alan, and then took the cloth out. She wrung it out, folded it, and pressed it against Alex's forehead.

"Help to bring fever down," she said. "Very high. No good. Must lower quick. What Ahlecks do before fall?"

"He wasn't doing anything," Melody said. "We were just picking the hommo . . . .uhh, the humming . . . . uhh . . . ."

"We were picking these stupid flowers to make rocket fuel," Alexandra interrupted. "Then Melody and Alex left to find some food."

"Yeah, that's right," Melody said. "And we found these big space strawberries, and Alex took a bite out of one . . . ."

"Space strawberries?" Zollah repeated.

"Yeah, they looked exactly like Earth strawberries," Melody said. "Only bigger."

"Meh-Lo-Dee show where," Shamballa said. "Ahlahn come, too. Rest, stay with Ahlecks. Work to bring down fever."

"Bleep, bleep!" Bleep shouted, jumping onto Melody's shoulders.

"Okay, Bleep," she said. "You can come, too. Bleep says he knows exactly where the space strawberries are."

"Lead the way, Bleep," Alan said.

"Bleep, bleep!" Bleep shouted, saluting.

The three of them were off and went through the jungles. Bleep sniffed around, like a dog, and then ran to the bush where the space strawberries were growing.

"Here they are!" Melody shouted. "We were going to pick some, but Alex said they weren't very good."

"Ahlecks eat berry?" Shamballa asked, as she plucked one of the so-called space strawberries.

"Well, he took a bite out of one," Melody said. "But what harm could a little space strawberry do?"

"This no good," Shamballa explained. "No space strawberry. Ursa Berry. No eat. Ursa no eat Ursa Berry, human no eat Ursa Berry. Use Ursa Berry for dye. Ursa Berry juice good color. Make deep red. No good food. Make very sick. Ursa Berry poison. Deadly. Must work fast."

"Is there an antidote?" Alan asked.

"I not know," Shamballa said. "We look in books back at hut. We find. Come."

Alan, and Bleep followed Shamballa back to the hut. Melody followed, after she picked a few of the Ursa Berries. She figured they might come in handy. Once they returned, Alan filled the others in on what was going on.

"Unfortunately, we don't know the antidote," he said. "Shamballa said we should start looking in some books."

"Okay," Zollah said. "Let's get started."

Everyone began grabbing books, and started looking through them.

"Why do I have the feeling we're looking for a needle in a haystack?" Alexandra asked. "And what about the rocket fuel?"

"We'll worry about that after we find the antidote," Valerie said, as she turned the pages.

"And that's going to be easier said than done," Alan said, turning the pages in the book he was holding. The writing in it was just a bunch of symbols. "I can't understand this."

"Ursalese," Rickholan said. "It takes time to learn. A long time to learn. It took us about two years before we able to speak it. And it took another two years before we were able to read it."

"Ooohhhhh . . . ." Alex moaned.

"And we don't have time to learn it," Valerie said.

"Don't worry, we'll handle it," Zollah said. "I think what you guys should do is look through the books and look for pictures of the berries."

"And while you guys are doing that, I'll check on Alex," Melody said.

"Give this," Shamballa said, handing her a bowl full of a clear purple gel-like liquid. "Ahlecks drink."

"What is it?" Alexandra asked, looking at it. "It looks like my hair gel!"

"Medicine," Shamballa said. "It no antidote, but keep fever from getting worse."

"I'll do it," Alexandra said, taking the bowl from Melody. "You'll just mess it up."

Alexandra carried the bowl over to her brother. Melody followed.

"How are we going to get him to drink this stuff?" she asked.

"Like this, dum-dum," Alexandra said. She maneuvered her arm behind Alex's shoulders, and pulled him into a sitting position.

"Melody, you tilt his head back," she said. "I'll pour this medicine down his throat."

Melody nodded, and put her hand behind Alex's neck, and tilted his head back. Alexandra held the bowl up to her brother's mouth, and poured. Alex gagged, and started coughing on it. Melody was afraid he was going to choke, but Alexandra held her back.

"Don't worry, he's okay," she said. "He's not going to choke."

"How do you know?" Melody asked.

"Oh, we had the measles back when we were six, and Alex had them worse than I did. He slept most of the time, and the only time our parents could give him his medicine was when he was asleep, and he always had the same reaction. So don't worry, he's fine. Well . . . . sort of."

"I know what you mean," Melody said, as she dunked the cloth into the bowl of water, wrung it out, and pressed it against Alex's forehead.

"I hope we find that antidote soon," she said.

Melody then walked over to where the others were looking at the books. She pulled one off the shelf and began looking through it. Alexandra glanced over at them. Everyone was so engrossed in finding the antidote. When she was sure that no one was watching, Alexandra grabbed her brother's hand, and squeezed it. She took Alex's sunglasses off, put them to the side, and then smoothed his bangs with her other hand.

"Me too, Melody," she sighed. "Me too."


	6. Nurse Alexandra

An hour had passed since the group started looking through Shamballa's books. Even Bleep and Sebastian were frantically searching through them. Josie took a break and walked over to where Alex was laying.

"Why aren't you looking through those books?" Alexandra demanded.

"I wanted to see how Alex is doing," Josie said.

"Same as ever," Alexandra said, shrugging. "Hmmph. Leave it to my idiot brother to eat a poisonous plant."

Alex started moaning then. Alexandra immediately began stroking his hair.

"Sshhhh," she said, softly. "Calm down, Alexander. It's all right. Just relax. That's it."

Josie watched, and was completely dumbfounded, especially since it looked like Alex was starting to calm down. Alexandra dipped the cloth in the bowl, rung it out, and pressed it against Alex's forehead.

"That's it, Alexander," she said. "You're going to be fine."

"Do you need any help, Alexandra?" Josie asked.

"No, I can handle it," Alexandra replied, and she went back to stroking her brother's hair.

"Hey, Josie," Alan said. "I could really use an extra pair of eyes going through this book."

"I don't know, Alan," Josie said. "I'm starting to get eye strain looking at the writing in there."

"So am I," Alan said. "Which is why I could use a hand. Or rather another pair of eyes."

"Well . . . ." Josie said. "Why don't you do it, Alexandra? I can't take looking through those books another second without a break."

"Me?" Alexandra asked.

"Yeah, go over there next to Alan and help him look through the books for awhile," Josie said.

"Well, umm . . . . ." Alexandra said a little hesitantly. This really confused Josie. She figured Alexandra would practically jump at the chance to do _any_thing next to Alan!

"Come on, Alexandra," Alan said. "I could really use your help. Josie will take care of Alex for awhile."

"All right, then," Alexandra said. She stood up, and walked over to Alan.

As Alexandra and Alan looked through the book, Alexandra kept glancing over at Josie and Alex. Alex was beginning to moan again, and Josie had started stroking his hair, like Alexandra had been. Alexandra glared, stood up, and stormed over.

"No, you dumb redhead!" she shouted. "You're doing it all wrong!"

"What's the matter?" Josie asked.

"You're going too fast!" Alexandra shouted, and then she started stroking Alex's hair. "Like this, see?"

"Oh," Josie said. "I get it now, thanks Alexandra."

"Hmmph," Alexandra grumbled, and went back to Alan and the book.

Five minutes into the search, Alexandra again glanced over at Josie and Alex. Then she let out what sounded like a growl, and stormed over once more.

"Can't you do _any_thing right, Josie?!" she shouted.

"What's the matter now?" Josie asked.

"You're going too slow!" Alexandra shouted. "You have to do this a certain way, or else he'll be moaning all day and night, and we'll never be able to get any work done! If you want anything done right, you have to do it yourself. Get back to the books, Josie. I'll handle this."

Alexandra grabbed Josie's arm, and practically yanked her out of the chair she was sitting on. Then, she began stroking her brother's hair gently.

"How do you like that?" Josie said, walking back over to Alan.

"Yeah," Alan said. "You'd think she'd be more willing to sit here and help me look through this book."

"It's almost like she _wants_ to stay with Alex," Josie said. "Like she doesn't want to leave him."

"Why not?" Melody asked. "I mean, Alex _is_ Alexandra's brother, after all."

"I know, Melody," Josie said. "But you know how Alexandra is toward Alex. She's always yelling at him and bossing him around. It's just strange, that's all."

Three more hours went by, and Alexandra hadn't left her post. Alex began moaning again, this time turning his head from side to side. Alexandra rubbed his forehead with the wet cloth.

"Shhhh," she whispered. "It's all right, Alex. Just try to take it easy."

"Al . . . . Alexandra?" Alex moaned, opening his eyes, slightly.

"Yes, Alex," Alexandra said. "I'm right here. I'll be right here if you need me."

Alex just stared at his sister, moaned once more, closed his eyes, and lost consciousness. Alexandra wrapped her arm around her brother's shoulders, and gave them a reassuring squeeze.

"Don't worry, Alexander," she said, softly. "I'm here for you."

Josie walked over to the Cabot siblings then, carrying a bowl of the medicine Alexandra and Melody had given Alex earlier.

"Alexandra?" she asked.

"What, Josie?" Alexandra said, sounding a little irritated.

"Shamballa gave us some more medicine. She said we have to give this to Alex every four hours."

"All right."

Alexandra leaned her brother upward, and tilted his head back, while Josie put the bowl to his lips. Once again, Alex choked a bit on the medicine, but it subsided shortly. Alexandra gently put him back into the laying position he had been in, and covered him with the blanket.

"How's it going over there?" she asked, as she wrung out the cloth, and pressed it against Alex's forehead.

"Very, very slowly," Josie sighed. "We can't find anything."

"Well, it's not going very well over here, either. This fever is never going to break."

"He hasn't made any progress?"

"None whatsoever."

"Well, why don't you take a break, Alexandra? I'll apply the cold compresses for awhile. You've been doing it for four hours now."

"No, you go back and look through the books. I'll stay here with Alex."

"Well, if you're sure, Alexandra . . . ."

"I'm positive."

Josie nodded, and went back to the books, but she occasionally looked up to watch Alexandra every few seconds or so. Alexandra kept applying the cold compresses to Alex's forehead, and she could hear her soothing him when he started moaning. Normally, when Alex started moaning (usually in fear), Alexandra would holler at him. This was a switch.

"It's all right, Alexander," Alexandra said, smoothing Alex's bangs. "Sister's here. Sis will take good care of you."

_If I didn't know any better,_ Josie thought as she watched Alexandra. _I'd say Alexandra really _does_ care about her brother._

"What's the matter, Josie?" Alan asked.

"Oh, nothing," Josie said, as she turned back to the book. "I'm just worried about Alex. We'd better find that antidote quick."

"Right," Alan said. "Time is definitely not on our side."


	7. Promises

Another four hours had gone by. Shamballa had to light a lantern so she and the others could continue going through the books.

"Boy," Melody said with a yawn. "Am I sleepy!"

"So am I," Zollah replied, stifling a yawn herself.

"And so are Bleep and Sebastian," Valerie commented, as she helped Shamballa fill another bowl with the medicine. "Look over here."

Everyone looked, and saw Bleep and Sebastian cuddled up next to each other, sound asleep, each snoring in their own way.

"Bleep-bleep-bleep-bleep-bleep," Bleep snored. Sebastian's snoring sounded like a finely tuned car engine.

"Isn't that sweet?" Josie said. Then she yawned herself. "Boy, I could use a little cat nap myself about now."

"You're right," Alan replied. "Why don't you girls take a break and go to bed?"

"But what about looking for the antidote?" Melody asked.

"We look," Shamballa said, pointing to herself and Rickholan.

"Mentasazi assistanshan," Pickatte said, as he grabbed a book.

"He said he'll help, too," Rickholan translated. "I've pulled these all nighters before. And the Ursas have quite a stamina. I'll get some sleep when one of you comes back to look through the books."

"Are you sure?" Alan asked.

"Ursa go long no sleep," Shamballa said. "Can go weeks no sleep. Ahlahn and girls sleep. You need."

"No, I'll watch over Alex," Alan said. "One of us should stay with him at all times. Besides, I think Alexandra could use a break as well."

"Yeah, she hasn't left Alex's side in eight hours," Valerie said. Then she yawned again. "Come on, Alan. Let's give Alex his medicine, and then I'm calling it a night."

Valerie and Alan walked over to the hammock. Alan's hunch was right, though. Alexandra was struggling to keep her eyes open. It was about all she could do to stay awake.

"Alexandra," Alan said. "The girls are going to go call it a night. Why don't you join them?"

"No," Alexandra said, yawning. "I'm not the least bit tired."

"Yes you are, Alexandra," Valerie said. "You've been sitting here with Alex for eight hours straight."

"Well, _some_one has to try to bring his fever down," Alexandra replied. "And I'm not going near any of those moldy old books, and everyone will just complain that I'm not doing anything, so what's left for me to do, anyway? Is it time for the medicine?"

"Yes," Valerie said.

"Okay, here we go."

Valerie and Alexandra pulled Alex up slightly, and administered the medicine. As usual, Alex coughed on it, but stopped after a moment. Alexandra and Valerie laid him back down, and he moaned. Alexandra smoothed his hair.

"It's okay, Alex," she said, quietly, so Alan and Valerie wouldn't hear her. "Everything is going to be fine."

"Come on, Alexandra," Valerie said, as she pulled Alexandra to her feet.

"Take your hands off me, Valerie!" Alexandra shouted, stifling another yawn. "I'm staying here! One of us has to stay by Alex at all times to apply these cold compresses!"

"Alexandra, I'll watch over Alex for awhile," Alan said. "I really think you should go to bed with the rest of the girls."

"Well . . . ." Alexandra said, thinking it over. She seriously considered going to bed with the other girls, but then she shook her head.

"No," she said. "I'm staying put. I've got everything under control."

"Alexandra, you're falling asleep," Alan said. "You need some rest. I promise, I'll stay with Alex until one of you girls comes back."

"Come on, Alexandra," Valerie said. "You've done nothing but apply those cold compresses to Alex's forehead for eight hours. Get some sleep. It won't do Alex any good if you start falling asleep on the job."

"Oh all right," Alexandra said, giving in. "But only for an hour or so."

Alan and Valerie nodded. Then the two girls followed Zollah, Melody, and Josie up to Zollah and Rickholan's tree house. Alan wrung out a cloth, and pressed it against Alex's forehead.

"Ooooohhhhh . . . . ." Alex moaned.

"Take it easy, Alex," Alan said. "Just take it easy."

Alex stirred, and opened his eyes about halfway. Alan noticed his eyes were a bit glassy looking.

"Where . . . . where's Alexandra?" Alex asked, weakly.

"She went to go get some sleep," Alan explained. "She'll be back soon. How are you feeling, Alex?"

Alex groaned. Then he started coughing. Once that subsided, he closed his eyes, let out a low moan, and drifted back to sleep. Alan wasn't sure if it was a good sign that Alex woke up for a few seconds or not, but at least Alex seemed to be aware that his sister had been with him. He figured at least _that_ was a good sign.

That one hour Alexandra had said she was going to take for a break turned out to be a full night's sleep, and then some. By the time she woke up, it was late in the morning, and she was not happy. She climbed out of the treehouse, and practically stormed into Shamballa's hut, where Shamballa, Pickatte, Valerie, and Josie were looking through books. Zollah and Melody were applying the compresses to Alex's forehead. Rickholan and Alan weren't around.

"Valerie!" Alexandra shouted. "I thought I told you I was only going to take an hour! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?!"

"Sorry, Alexandra," Valerie said. "We were all just so zonked out. None of us got up until about an hour ago."

"And we didn't have the heart to wake you up, either," Melody said. "At least we're all well rested."

"Where are Alan and Rickholan?" Alexandra asked, walking over to her brother.

"They're getting some sleep," Zollah replied. "They'll be back when they're rested. Alan took very good care of Alex."

"Good," Alexandra replied. "Did he give him his medicine?"

"Yes," Josie said. "Alan gave him a dose last night, and I gave him another dose an hour ago. He won't need another for three more hours. It was funny, though. Alan said Alex did nothing but moan for you all night."

"Imagine that," Alexandra said, gesturing to Zollah to get out of the chair she was sitting on. Once Zollah got up, Alexandra sat down.

"Now that I'm here, Zollah," she said, "you and Melody help Valerie, Josie, and those two fur balls look for the antidote. I'll take over here."

"All right," Zollah said. "Come on, Melody."

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay and help you take care of Alex, Alexandra?" Melody asked.

"Positive," Alexandra replied. "The more of you that look through those old books, the faster you'll find the antidote."

"You know, _you_ could look through one of these books," Josie said. "You don't _have_ to sit with Alex all day."

"Don't be ridiculous, Josie," Alexandra said. "I refuse to lay my hands on one of those old, moldy, crumbling, dis_gus_ting books!"

Josie sighed, and went back to the book. Melody shrugged, and she and Zollah walked over to Valerie, Josie, and the two Ursas. Each took a large book from the shelf, and began going through it.

"Alexandraaahhh . . . ." Alex moaned in his sleep. Alexandra pressed a cloth against his forehead.

"Right here, Alex," she said, softly. "Don't worry, I'm here."

"D-don't leave," Alex said, opening his eyes slightly, and grabbing his sister's hand with both of his. "P-please don't leave again."

"Alex, your hands are like ice cubes!" Alexandra gasped.

Alex closed his eyes and moaned. His grip loosened, his hands dropped to his sides, and he started shaking. Alexandra repositioned the blanket over her brother, and pressed the cloth to his forehead.

"Don't leave again," Alex moaned. "Don't leave again."

"I won't leave," Alexandra soothed as she brushed her brother's hair with her hand. "I promise, Alexander, I won't leave your side for another minute."


	8. The Antidote

Alan and Rickholan returned to Shamballa's hut after an hour and a half. Josie and Valerie took a break when they came back. They sat down by the hammock and helped Alexandra apply the cold compresses.

"I wish we had a thermometer," Alexandra said. "I can't tell if he's getting any better or worse."

"We're working on it," Josie said. "Don't worry, Alexandra."

"I'm not worried," Alexandra replied, holding Alex's hand. "I'm not worried at all. I'm calm, cool, and collected."

"Then loosen your grip," Valerie said. "You're going to crush Alex's hand if you hold it any tighter."

"No," Alexandra said. "I can't. I'm trying to warm up his hands. They're like a couple of icicles. Besides, it's comforting."

"What?!" Valerie asked, looking at Alexandra as if she were nuts.

"I mean, I'm just humoring him," Alexandra said, quickly.

Josie gave Alexandra a Look. She wasn't buying it. She could tell Alexandra was more worried than any of them. But she also knew Alexandra was as stubborn as a mule, and was not going to admit it.

"Alexandra, why don't you take five?" she suggested.

"And look through those books?" Alexandra asked. "No, I'll stay here. Turning those pages will ruin my nails."

"Alexandra, come on," Valerie said. "You've done nothing but sit here and applying cold compresses to Alex's forehead."

"Yeah, I think one of us should take over," Josie said. "Why don't you go take a nap or something? You could use the rest."

"No!" Alexandra shouted. "_I'm_ the only one here capable of this job!"

"Honestly, Alexandra," Valerie said, sounding irritated. "How hard can it be to apply a cold compress to someone's forehead?"

Alexandra didn't answer. Valerie and Josie sighed, and Valerie went back to the books. Josie sat in a chair, and pressed a cloth to Alex's forehead. Alex moaned, and opened his eyes, about halfway, as usual.

"Hi, Alex," Josie said. "How are you feeling?"

"Eecchhh," Alex groaned.

"I figured that," Josie replied. Then she stood up. "I'm going to go check with the others and see if they found anything yet. Don't worry, Alex, we're working on it."

Josie left then. Alex moaned and turned to his sister.

"You're still here," he said.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Alexandra replied. "I promised I wouldn't leave, and I'm not going to leave. I'll stay here with you. I'll be right here. I'll stay with you until you get better." She started smoothing Alex's hair, until he closed his eyes again, and fell asleep.

"Sleep is good, Alex," Alexandra said, soothingly. "Sleep will help you get better."

Another five hours passed without any headway. Finally, Melody jumped up and let out a shriek.

"I found something! I found something!" she cried, happily.

"What did you find, Melody?" Zollah asked, coming over.

"Look, right here!" Melody exclaimed. "It's a picture of that funny space strawberry!"

"Ursa Berry," Shamballa said. "Good, Meh-Lo-Dee. We find out what do now."

Rickholan took the book, and began reading from it.

"The Ursa Berry is highly poisonous to humans and animals if ingested," he said. "Symptoms of Ursa Berry poisoning to a human are a high fever, chills, glassy eyes, and coughing. The only known cure for Ursa Berry poisoning is a special elixir made from the Shama Lama Ding Dong flower."

"Boy, that sounds like a song cue," Melody said.

"Never mind, Melody," Valerie said. "Rickholan, where does the flower grow?"

"Unfortunately, in the mountains," Rickholan sighed. "And it's the only place it grows."

"What's so bad about the mountains?" Alan asked.

"That's where the Mohnstah Spedyah lives," Zollah explained to Alan, Josie, and Valerie. "That's a giant spider monster, and whoever goes up to that mountain never comes back. Not alive, anyway."

"Yeesah, yeesah," Pickatte commented, nodding his head vigorously. "Tiente!"

"Very dangerous," Shamballa said.

"Is there an alternate antidote for Ursa Berry poisoning?" Valerie asked.

"No," Rickholan said. "Unfortunately, the Shama Lama Ding Dong is the only thing that will help. If we don't get it to Alexander soon, he could die."

"But very dangerous to get," Shamballa said.

"Well, dangerous or not," Alan said, "this plant is the only thing that's going to help Alex."

"Alan's right," Josie said. "We _have_ to get it."

"But it's a long journey to the mountains," Zollah said.

"Very long," Shamballa said, pulling a piece of paper out from a shelf. "See map? It long way to mountains."

"Well, if it's long, then we'd better get started," Alexandra replied.

"No, Lextrah!" Pickatte said. "Tiente! Tiente!"

"Pickatte right," Shamballa said. "No go now, Lextrah. Too dangerous at night. Wait until sun light."

"Tomorrow morning," Rickholan said. "It'll be better if we all pack some supplies and get a good night's sleep. Then bright and early tomorrow morning, we'll head for the mountains, and find the Shama Lama Ding Dong."

"But we don't have time to lose!" Alexandra protested.

"We want to be prepared for the spider monster, Alexandra," Alan said, trying to reason with her.

"But . . . ." Alexandra started.

"No buts, Alexandra," Valerie said, firmly. "You're not running the show here."

_Wanna bet?_ Alexandra thought.

The group left Shamballa's hut. This included Shamballa, as she was going to collect some herbs for more of Alex's medicine. Alexandra let out a frustrated groan.

"We don't have any time to wait until morning," she said. "If they're not going to go find that plant now, I'll just have to do it myself!"

Sebastian meowed, and followed Alexandra around the hut. The first thing she did was grab the map to the mountains, and then she packed up some food in a bag. Then she grabbed a lantern from the table, and lit it.

"I think we're set," she said to her cat.

"Bleep, bleep, bleep?" Bleep said, coming into the window. Startled, Alexandra jumped, and nearly dropped everything she was carrying.

"Oooh, you little furball!" she hissed. She was about to go on when she heard Alex moan. She realized she didn't have time to throttle Bleep, and she also realized she couldn't leave Alex alone, or else his fever might get worse very quickly. She decided maybe she could use Bleep.

"Listen carefully, Bleep," she said, as she scribbled a note on a piece of paper. "I'm going out. You watch over Alex until Alan or Josie or someone else comes. When they do, give them this note. It explains everything."

"Bleep, bleep!" Bleep shouted, saluting. Then he jumped over to the hammock, and onto Alex's chest. He took a cloth from the bowl, wrung it out, and pressed it against Alex's forehead. Alex coughed, and moaned again. He stirred, and opened his eyes for a moment.

"What are you doing?" he asked his sister.

"I'm going out," Alexandra said. "I'll be back once I find the plant that we need."

"But . . . but you promised you wouldn't leave."

"Alexander, since when do I keep my promises?"

"No, Alexandra . . . . please don't go, please!"

"It'll be okay, Alex. Bleep's going to take care of you, and then Alan or Josie or someone else will in a few hours. Just hang in there, all right? Promise me you'll try to hold out for as long as you can, okay?"

"Okay."

Alex closed his eyes, moaned again, and fell into a deep sleep. Alexandra turned to Bleep, and gave him a stern look.

"Now listen," she said. "You'd better make sure you take good care of Alex. If you don't, I'll see to it that you become a sweater, do you understand?!"

"Bleep, bleep, bleep!" Bleep shouted, nervously saluting.

Alexandra nodded, picked up her supplies, and her cat, and quietly snuck out of Shamballa's hut.

"Don't worry, Alexander," she said. "I won't let you die."


	9. The Mohnstah Spedyah

It wasn't until daybreak when Josie went to relieve Alexandra. Everyone had woken up, and they decided that Rickholan, Shamballa, Alan, and Valerie would go search for the plant, while Melody, Bleep, Josie, Zollah, and Pickatte stayed with Alexandra, Sebastian, and Alex. Josie had meant to get up earlier, but she didn't realize she had been so tired. She walked into Shamballa's hut, and saw Bleep sitting on Alex's stomach, pressing a cloth to his forehead.

"Bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep," he said, waving.

"Bleep!" Josie shouted, thoroughly surprised. "Bleep, where's Alexandra?"

"Bleep, bleep, bleep," Bleep said, handing Josie the note. Josie unfolded it and read it.

"Oh no!" she shouted. "Alan! Alan, get in here! Hurry!"

"What's wrong, Josie?" Alan asked, as he and the other Pussycats ran inside. Shamballa, Pickatte, Rickholan and Zollah were right behind them.

"Read this," Josie said, handing the note to Alan. "It's from Alexandra."

"Dear everybody," Alan read. "I've gone out to look for the plant. Sebastian is with me. I have the map with me, so I know where I'm going. I'll be back later. Alexandra. Oh boy . . . ."

"Oh, what's Alexandra done _now_?!" Valerie groaned.

"She's just opened herself up to a lot of trouble," Zollah said. "I've seen the Monstah Spedyah, and that thing is huge! She doesn't know what she's getting herself into!"

"Zollah's right," Rickholan said. "The Shama Lama Ding Dong grows right where the Mohnstah Spedyah's cave is! She'll never escape that spider by herself if she gets caught!"

"We've got to go after her," Alan said.

"No can without map," Shamballa said. "Not know way to mountain."

"Bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep!" Bleep shouted, jumping up and down.

"Oh Bleep, that's wonderful!" Melody shouted. "Bleep says he can track down Alexandra and Sebastian. He has a good sense of smell, better than a dog's!"

"Good," Alan said. "Now, I think that the girls and Pickatte should stay here and take care of Alex. Rickholan, you and Shamballa come with me and Bleep. You know the territory."

"And I'll come along so I can translate for Bleep," Melody said.

"I don't know . . . ." Alan started.

"We can't argue about it now," Valerie replied. "There isn't time."

"Besides," Josie said, "you might need Melody. What if Bleep has to tell you something? You won't be able to understand him."

"All right, Melody," Alan sighed, giving in. "You're in."

"Come on," Rickholan said. "There's not a moment to lose. We don't know how far Alexandra could have gotten."

Shamballa nodded, grabbed a walking stick, and led the way down a path into the forest.

"Good luck!" Josie called after them. "And be careful!"

"I could kill Alexandra," Valerie grumbled. "She should have waited for the rest of us! I know her tricks. I'll bet she went out on her own so she could find the plant, show us all up, and impress Alan."

"Probably," Josie said, sitting down on the other side of the hammock. She wrung out a cloth from the bowl and pressed it firmly against Alex's forehead.

Josie had a feeling Alexandra had another reason for taking off with the map to find the Shama Lama Ding Dong like she did. In fact, she _knew_ Alexandra was doing this for Alex, but she didn't say another word about it. Valerie wouldn't believe her, anyway. She just sighed, and went to get the bowl of medicine. Shamballa had shown the girls how to mix it up the night before, and they had plenty. They only hoped that it would hold Alex over until the others returned. If they returned at all.

Back in the jungle, Alexandra and Sebastian were wandering around weird polka dotted palms still looking for the Shama Lama Ding Dong Plant. Alexandra had torn the page out of the book, so she knew what she was looking for.

"According to this page from Shamballa's book," she said, "the Shama Lama Ding Dong is a hibiscus type flower, with blue petals, and pink stem thingies coming out of it. I just hope we find the soon. This jungle atmosphere is murder on my complexion!"

Sebastian groaned, but followed Alexandra down the paths and up the hills leading to the mountains. As they pressed on, Alexandra heard a hissing sound.

"Sebastian, stop that hissing," she ordered.

"Eh?" Sebastian asked. That was his way of saying that he _wasn't_ hissing, but of course, Alexandra could not speak cat.

After awhile, Alexandra and Sebastian reached the mountains, and found what they were looking for. Alexandra began picking them, and putting them into her bag.

"Hopefully, this will be enough," she said. "And Sebastian, I told you, stop that hissing!"

The hissing continued, and Alexandra turned around to see what was causing it, thinking it was most likely her cat. When she found out it wasn't her cat hissing, she nearly had a heart attack when she found out what _was_ hissing!

"AHH! A king sized spider!" she yelled.

"YEEEEK!" Sebastian screamed, and both he and Alexandra took off as fast as they could.

The spider began spitting out strands of sticky red string. Alexandra was soon wrapped up head to toe in it, her eyes being the only thing visible. All she could do was make unintelligible muffled sounds as the spider grabbed her with it's front feet, hoisted her on it's back, and scampered away.

Sebastian was far enough away not to get wrapped up in the red spider silk. The problem was Alexandra had the plant they needed. It had been wrapped up with her. The cat didn't know what to do. He was no match for the spider, and by the time he went to the Ursa Village and back, it would be too late. Sebastian thought it over, weighing each option, until he finally decided to get back to the Ursa Village, running as fast as his furry little legs would take him, hoping he'd be able to get the others in time.

Meanwhile, Valerie and Zollah were looking through the books again, hoping they would find an alternative antidote, just in case. Josie was applying the cold compresses. Alex began moaning just then, turning his head from side to side, violently.

"Alexandra!" he cried. "Alexandra, where are you?!"

"It's okay, Alex," Josie said, stroking Alex's hair to soothe him. "Just calm down. Everything will be all right, I promise. Just relax a little."

"No . . . . Alexandraaahhhh . . . ." Alex moaned. "She . . . . . she promised she wouldn't leave! Alexandraaahhhh!"

"I wonder if Ursa Berry poisoning results in delirium?" Valerie asked, as she walked over. "He must be _really_ sick if he wants Alexandra."

"Alexandraaaahhh . . . ." Alex moaned, jerking his head from side to side so hard, the girls were afraid he'd snap his neck or something. "Alexandraaahhhh . . . . where are you?!"

"Better calm him down," Zollah said. "If his adrenaline starts rushing, it could spell disaster."

"Alex, we know you're not feeling well," Josie soothed, as she continued to stroke Alex's hair. "But you've got to calm down a little, okay? Just relax. Everything will be all right. We'll take care of you."

"Ooooohhhh . . . ." Alex moaned, and stopped moving for a moment or so.

"Alex?" Valerie asked, worriedly. "Alex, are you all right?"

"Alexandraaaahhhh . . . ." was all Alex said before passing out. The three girls looked at each other. This was not a good sign.

"He's getting worse," Zollah said, grimly. "I don't know how much longer he'll be able to go without the antidote."

"I hope the others find Alexandra and that plant and come back soon," Valerie sighed.

Valerie would have to do a lot of hoping. At that time, Alan, Melody, Rickholan, Bleep, and Shamballa were making their way up the mountain. Bleep stopped when he heard something coming.

"Bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep!" he bleeped.

"Bleep says someone . . . . or some_thing_ is coming," Melody said.

"Mohnstah Spedyah!" Shamballa shouted, nervously.

"Meow! Meow! Meow!" the group heard in the distance, and suddenly, a small, furry, black and white figure came into view.

"Sebastian!" Alan called out. Sebastian skidded to a halt in front of the group, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sebastian, where's Alexandra?" Rickholan asked. Sebastian began jumping up and down, meowing his head off, pointing up the mountain, and trying to pantomime what had happened.

"I wish I could speak cat," Rickholan said.

"Bleep, bleep, bleep," Bleep said.

"Bleep says Sebastian said a giant spider got Alexandra," Melody said. "Oh golly . . . ."

"Mohnstah Spedyah," Shamballa said again. "Bashten, Mohnstah Spedyah have Lextrah?"

"Mrow!" Sebastian shouted, nodding. He pointed up the path to the mountain, jumping and meowing frantically. He was finally too exhausted to go on, and he fell to the ground then and there, taking in gulps of air like someone who just ran fifty laps around a track. Melody scooped him up, and rocked him a little, as if he were a baby.

"Oh, poor Sebastian," she crooned. "You're all worn out."

"Come on, everybody!" Alan shouted. "We've got to find that spider!"

"Sebastian was pointing up the hill that way," Rickholan said, pointing in the same direction Sebastian had been pointing a few moments ago. "There's no time to spare!"

The group raced up the pathway, hoping they weren't too late.

It didn't take long for the group to find the spider. It had Alexandra wound in the spider silk, but now she was stuck to a giant spider web. The spider was scurrying around it's creation, just feeling at her with it's legs, as if it were sniffing her.

"Bleah!" Rickholan shouted, grimacing. "That's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen!"

"Don't I know it," Alan said. "Listen, I'll tell you what we're gonna do. I'll distract the spider, and once it's out of there, we'll get Alexandra out of this mess, okay?"

"Yeesah," Shamballa said.

Alan took a pebble from the ground and tossed it at the spider. The spider looked around for a bit, and then went back to Alexandra, ready to sink his teeth into her. Alan took another pebble, and tossed it. The spider looked around again, and began grumbling.

"Gee, I didn't know spiders could mumble," Melody said.

"Shh!" Alan hissed. "I've almost got it!"

Alan took a rock, wound up, and pitched it. It sailed through the air, and beaned the spider on the head. That did it. The spider began grumbling and scuttled off to investigate this. Once it was gone, Alan, Melody, Rickholan, Shamballa, Sebastian, and Bleep came out of their hiding place, and ran to the web.

"Come on, we'd better hurry before that thing comes back!" Alan shouted.

"Yeeeccchhh," Rickholan groaned.

The lot of them began to pull the webbing off Alexandra. It was incredibly sticky and hard to work with. Alan just hoped they got finished with this before that hulking brute of a spider came back!

"It took you long enough," Alexandra said, as Melody pulled the webbing off her mouth. "Now I know what a fly feels like."

"I just hope we can get you out before Spider Zilla comes back," Alan said.

"LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!" Melody suddenly shrieked.

Alan and Rickholan turned around and saw the giant spider there. He growled, and he began spitting shoots of silk out. Everyone began ducking.

"Now what?" Melody asked.

"I'll handle the spider," Alan said. "You and the others handle Alexandra."

Melody nodded. Alan stood in front of the spider, and walked around it, and the spider followed. They began circling each other. Melody, Rickholan, and Shamballa ran to Alexandra and began to pull the webbing off, and get her out of the web. Alan kept glancing over to see how they were doing. Unfortunately, the spider noticed what Alan was doing, and saw a group of people freeing his lunch, and shot a web out at them. Melody, Rickholan, and Shamballa ducked, but that wasn't going to do them any good. The web fell on them like a net, and they got stuck there.

"Hey Alan!" Rickholan called. "It's all up to you now!"

"Oh great," Alan grumbled. "Well, there's only one thing to do here."

Alan climbed up a tree, and jumped off the branch, right over the spider.

"Geronimo!" he yelled when he fell. He landed right on the spider's back. The spider began bucking like a bronco. Alan held on as tight as he could, but he found it a tad disgusting.

"What a way to break into the rodeo," he said. "Ride 'em cowboy!"

"Well, _now_ I've seen everything!" Alexandra shouted.

The spider continued bucking like a bronco until Alan yanked a large branch off a tree, and began hitting the spider in the head with it.

"Take that! And that! And that!" he shouted as he clobbered. The spider didn't know what the heck hit him. He finally flopped forward, and was motionless. Alan heaved a sigh of relief and climbed off.

"That takes care of that," he said as he pulled the web net off of Melody, Rickholan, and Shamballa. "Come on, let's get a move on and get Alexandra out of here."

The group began to take the spider silk off Alexandra. Once she was free, they started back to the village.

"I hope you've got the plant," Alan said.

"Right here," Alexandra said, handing Alan her bag. "Check it out for yourselves."

"That's the plant all right," Rickholan said.

"Do we have enough of it?" Alan asked, handing the bag to Shamballa.

"Yeesah," Shamballa said. "More than enough. Must hurry."

Rickholan and Shamballa started back for the village. Melody followed them, carrying both Bleep and Sebastian. Alexandra was running her hands through her hair, picking out bits and pieces of spider silk.

"I am never going to get all this out of my hair," she grumbled. "Tell me Alan, wasn't that a heroic feat?"

"Yeah, it was a heroic feat, all right," Alan said. "Not to mention stupid, and dangerous! Alexandra, what were you thinking?!"

"Oh calm down, Alan, it was just a spider. Doesn't it impress you that I went for the plant alone?"

"Alexandra, do you realize that spider could have killed you? You should have waited for the rest of us!"

"Oh Alan!" Alexandra swooned, and leaned against Alan. "You were worried for my safety! How sweet of you!"

"Save it, Alexandra," Alan said, pushing her away. He sounded irritated. "We've got to hurry back to the village with that plant before it's too late."

With that, Alan ran to catch up with the others.

"Oooh, Alan!" Alexandra groaned. Then she ran to catch up with the others anyway.


	10. The Spider Returns

When the gang reached Shamballa's hut, they found Josie and Valerie outside, waiting for them. They saw Alexandra, and Josie sighed with relief.

"Alexandra, thank goodness you're all right!" she shouted.

"Was there ever a doubt?" Alexandra asked.

"Did you find the plants?"

"Of course I did. What did you expect?"

"And that spider nearly had her for lunch," Alan said. "How's Alex doing?"

"Not very well," Valerie replied. "Zollah thinks he's getting worse. We'd better make that antidote and fast!"

"I hurry," Shamballa said. "Take time to mix. Go fast as I can."

The others nodded, and walked back inside the hut. Alexandra took her usual seat, and took her brother's hand.

"Alexaaaaandeeerrrrr," she sang, softly. "I know you're in there, I can hear you breathing."

Alex moaned, stirred for a moment, and opened his eyes.

"Alexandra," he said, weakly.

"Told you I'd be back," Alexandra said. "You really think I'd leave you hanging like this?"

Alex didn't say a word. Normally, he would have taken a jab at his sister. That question opened her up for a good one. But he was too sick to even think straight. He just closed his eyes, coughed for a moment, moaned, and fell back asleep.

"That's right, Alex," Alexandra said, smoothing her brother's hair. "You just sleep. Sleep is very good for you right now. You're going to get better soon. I just know it."

"Alexandra, can I ask you something?" Josie asked.

"Oh what is it, Josie?" Alexandra asked, sounding irritated. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I want to know what possessed you to go looking for that plant by yourself, knowing darn well that it was dangerous."

"I thought it would impress Alan."

"Alexandra, come clean. You didn't risk your life against that spider impress Alan. You did it for Alexander, and you know it."

"Why would I risk getting eaten by a giant spider for my chicken brother? I'm not my brother's keeper! Why should I care what happens to him?"

"Alexandra, he's your brother. I know you've only been staying with him all this time because deep down, you really do care about him."

"Oh, I do not! I'm trying to show Alan my nurturing nature! I couldn't care less about Alexander!"

Josie sighed, and left. No matter how she tried, she was not going to get Alexandra to admit she really did care about her brother. Alexandra glanced over at the other side of the room. Everyone was gathered around Shamballa's fireplace, helping her mix up the plants for the antidote. They weren't paying any attention to Alexandra.

"Don't let this get around, Alexander," she said, softly so no one would hear. "Because my reputation will be ruined if someone found out I said this, but . . . . well, you _are_ my brother, and I guess, deep down . . . . I guess I really do love you."

Alexandra then bent over and planted a light kiss on her brother's forehead.

"There," she said. "I said it. If it gets out, I'll deny I said it, but I said it."

Alex moaned. It was the only way he could answer her, as it looked like he wasn't going to wake up any time soon, at least not until the antidote was finished. Alexandra sighed, and sat down. She wrung out a cloth, folded it, and pressed it to Alex's forehead. Josie came over a few minutes later and sat down.

"Isn't Shamballa done with that antidote yet?" Alexandra asked, impatiently.

"She's getting there," Josie said.

"Well, she'd better hurry up. I can't stand waiting much longer."

"And why is that, Alexandra?"

"The sooner we give Alex the antidote, the sooner we can make the rocket fuel out of those other stupid plants, and the sooner we can get back to Earth! And if you're waiting for me to admit that I care about my stupid brother, Josie, you've got a long wait coming!"

"Oh really, Alexandra, sometimes you can be such a . . . ."

Josie didn't get a chance to finish her sentence. She was interrupted by a loud screeching noise coming from outside. Valerie ran to the window, took one look, and gasped.

"It's a giant spider!" she shouted.

"Oh no!" Melody shouted. "It followed us!"

It indeed was the Mohnstah Spedyah, and it was scurrying about outside, shooting it's webbing out at the Ursas, who were all running around in a panic. Some of the Ursas ended up caught up in flying spider silk.

"Mohnstah Spedyah!" Pickatte shouted.

"Close the windows and barricade the door!" Rickholan shouted.

Bleep flew up to one of the windows, and closed it, but it immediately flew open, and the Mohnstah Spedyah appeared.

"Bleep, bleeeeep!" Bleep shouted, panicking. He flew right into Melody's arms.

Valerie picked up a nearby stick, and began hitting the spider with it, trying to get it back outside. The spider hissed, and shot it's red silk out at her. Valerie was wound up in it, but not to the extreme as Alexandra had been earlier. Valerie ended up losing her balance, and she fell to the floor, and then she found she couldn't get up.

"This silk is sticking to the floor!" she shouted. "I can't move!"

"Shoo! Shoo, I say!" Melody shouted, picking up where Valerie had left off. "Bad spider! Bad spider!"

"Go away!" Josie yelled, picking up a broom, and she too began swatting at the spider. The spider hissed, and shot out it's webbing. Josie and Melody ended up tied back to back.

"Oh no!" Josie shouted. "We're stuck!"

"Bleep, help us!" Melody cried.

"Bleep, bleep, bleep!" Bleep shouted, and he ran to the rescue. The spider hissed, and shot a long string of webbing at the little alien. Bleep suddenly found himself wrapped up, like the Pussycats. The spider continued shooting the webbing out at him, until he was cocooned like a caterpillar. The spider climbed into the window, picked up his cocoon, and stuck it into the ceiling. Bleep tried to break out of it, but to no avail.

The spider looked around the room, hissing like crazy, and continued to shoot webbing in every direction. Rickholan and Zollah were the next victims. They were plastered to the wall by webs resembling nets.

"Oh yuck!" Zollah shouted.

"Shamballa, look out!" Valerie warned.

"Eeleckyah!" Shamballa shouted, and ran, but the spider hissed, and cocooned her, like he did with Bleep, and did the same to Pickatte.

"Shemeestah," Pickatte mumbled from inside his web cocoon.

The spider then spotted Alan, Alexandra, and Sebastian. The three of them turned and ran from the spider, but it wasn't easy. The spider began chasing after them, knocking over furniture and other things. Alan finally picked up a chair, and hurled it at the spider. Unfortunately, that didn't stop it. The spider hissed, and shot it a web net out at Alan, causing him to fly into the wall, and become stuck there.

"Oh swell," Alan groaned, sarcastically.

"Alexandra, do something!" Valerie shouted.

"Like what?!" Alexandra yelled. The spider hissed, and shot more red silk at her, but she ducked just in the nick of time. She took that opportunity to hide behind Shamballa's overturned table. She made it there just in time. Another web net hit the table just as Alexandra ducked behind it.

"Whew!" she breathed. "That was close!"

But it wasn't over yet. The spider walked around the room, still bumbling into things and knocking things over. Sebastian let out a growl, and jumped onto the spider, teeth and claws bared. The spider let out a screech and began jumping all over the place.

"Sebastian, watch where you're driving that spider!" Alexandra shouted, as she came out of her hiding place, just as the spider knocked into it.

Everyone watched as Sebastian rode the spider like a bucking bronco (much like Alan had earlier). The spider finally managed to throw Sebastian off his back by making a sudden stop, and just flinging him off.

"Reeeeooowwww!" Sebastian shrieked, as he landed in a heap on the floor. The spider hissed and shot a web net over the cat, pinning him there. Sebastian grumbled like Muttley, and began to saw at the web with his claws. It was going to take some time before he got himself and the others out of there. This was no ordinary spider silk.

The spider then looked around the room, and approached Valerie, Josie, and Melody. Valerie began kicking at the spider, as did Josie and Melody.

"Get away, you . . . . you . . . . bug!" Melody shouted.

The spider backed up, and moved toward Alan, Rickholan, and Zollah. Even though they were stuck to the wall, they could still kick at him. He tried to get at his cocoons, but they were moving around too much, and Sebastian swatted at the spider with his claws bared. Alexandra was still hiding behind the overturned table. She definitely was not about to come out any time soon, and the spider couldn't get to her at the angle the table was in. The spider began to get annoyed. He was hungry, and he wanted something that wasn't going to move, or fight back. That's when he spotted his target. The spider began scuttling to the corner of the room.

"Oh no!" Josie shouted. "It's heading for Alex!"


	11. Back to Normal

Alexandra peeked over the table, but she didn't move just yet. The spider used his front legs to feel at Alex, like it was sniffing at him or something. Alex was in a deep sleep. He had no idea that there was an enormous spider right there next to him.

"Get away from him!" Melody yelled.

"If the Mohnstah Spedyah bites him, it'll be all over," Rickholan said. "Their bites are poisonous, even more poisonous than the Ursa Berries! With Alexander's defenses down, one bite will kill him instantly."

The spider knocked Alex right out of the hammock. He landed on the floor with a THUD! The spider began shooting his webbing out at him, and started to wrap him up in it. Alexandra had to think fast. She was the only one who could do something. She looked around the room for something to throw at it, until she spotted the Ursa Berries Melody had brought back. What Rickholan read from Shamballa's book came back to her then.

_The Ursa Berry is highly poisonous to humans and animals if ingested._

"That's it!" she shouted, and she grabbed all of the Ursa Berries Melody collected. Then she stood up and faced the spider.

"Hey you eight-legged creep!" she yelled. "If you want something to eat, try these!"

Alexandra threw the Ursa Berries as hard as she could at the spider, one at a time. Surprisingly, the spider swallowed each one of them whole.

"What's she doing?" Melody asked.

"She's feeding those Ursa Berries to the spider," Zollah said. "They're poisonous to all living things."

"But that spider seems to be immune to them," Alan said.

"But at least she's leading it away from Alexander," Valerie said.

The spider left Alex where he was, and started to go to Alexandra. Alexandra was leading him towards the door, throwing the Ursa Berries into his mouth. However, something had changed in the spider. He was staggering around, bumping into the walls and the furniture. Finally, Alexandra tossed the last berry, and the spider began to wobble.

"_Hic!_" was the next thing the group heard.

"Gee, I didn't know spiders could get the hiccups!" Melody shouted.

"I think this thing's drunk!" Alexandra shouted.

"_Hic! Hic! Hic! Hic!_" the spider hiccuped, like the stork from those Looney Tune cartoons as he wobbled back up the hill, hiccuping all the way.

(_Insert a trumpet playing "How Dry I Am," in true Looney Tune fashion here_)

"Well, that's that," Alexandra said. She ran over to Alex, pulled him into a sitting position, pulled the webbing off him, and looked him over to make sure that spider didn't bite him or anything. Alex let out a moan.

"You'll be all right now, Alex," Alexandra said, as she hugged her brother. "Everything's fine now."

Alexandra hoisted her brother's arm over her shoulders, stood up, and managed to get him back into the hammock. Then she started stroking his hair.

"Meow!" Sebastian shouted, as he finally managed to cut himself out of his net.

"Lextrah," Shamballa said, from inside her cocoon. "Look on shelf. Knife there. Use to cut out."

"And hurry so we can finish the antidote," Alan said.

"Let's go, Sebastian," Alexandra said. She found the knife, and began cutting the others out of the webbing, and Sebastian used his claws to help free the others. Shamballa ran to her fireplace and began stirring the mixture. She finally spooned some of it into a bowl, and handed it to Josie.

"It ready," she said.

"And not a moment too soon," Alan said.

Alexandra pulled Alex into a sitting position, and tilted his head back. Then she took the bowl from Josie, and put it to Alex's mouth.

"Make sure he drink all," Shamballa said.

Alexandra nodded, and held the bowl to Alex's mouth until every last drop slid down his throat. Alex coughed, and moaned once he swallowed. Everyone watched and waited.

"How long until it takes effect?" Josie asked.

"Soon," Shamballa said. "Very soon."

"I hope we're not too late," Valerie said.

"Come on, Alex," Alexandra said, taking her brother's hand, and squeezing it. "Come on . . . . please, Alex, please wake up. I know you can do it. Come on, Alex . . . . please, you've just got to wake up."

Alex moaned, and moved his head from side to side for a moment or so. His eyelids began to twitch slightly. Slowly, his eyes opened. Alex looked around, his vision a little blurry. Once it cleared, he saw everyone standing over him, just staring at him.

"Why are you guys looking at me like that?" he asked. "What'd I do now?"

"Alex, you're all right!" Alexandra shouted, and she wrapped her arms around her brother, and hugged him tightly. "I didn't think we were going to make it! I was so worried about you! I thought for sure you were going to . . . . ."

Alexandra then realized the others were staring at her. She let go of her brother, and stood up straight.

"I mean, it's about time you woke up!" she shouted. "The _others_ were extremely worried about you, you know!"

"How do you feel, Alex?" Valerie asked.

"Okay, I guess," Alex said, with a shrug. "But what happened? Last thing I remember, I took a bite out of this awful tasting strawberry, then I started to feel sick, and after that, everything's a blank."

"Well, you've been laying sick for nearly three days now," Alexandra replied. "And you'd better appreciate what I've done for you, or else I'm gonna . . . ."

"Alexandra . . . ." Josie said, in a warning tone.

"Why? What'd she do?" Alex asked.

"You'd never believe it even if I told you," Josie said, patting Alex's shoulder.

"Now that that's over with," Alexandra said. "Maybe we can get that rocket fuel mixed up and get back home!"

"Right," Valerie said. "Let's get to work."

Rickholan, Valerie, and Alan spent the rest of the day mixing up the rocket fuel from the Humma-Humma Nuka-Nuka Appa-Wappah-ah-ah-ah plant. The others just sat around waiting. Alexandra was picking stray strands of spider silk out of her hair, and off her cat when Alex walked over to her.

"Hi, Sis," he said.

"Well, what do you want?" Alexandra asked.

"Josie told me about that spider . . . . and the fact that you got rid of it."

"Yeah well . . . . I had to do something, and I was the only one to do it. I was the only one of us not wrapped up in spider webs."

"Yeah, I know. And about what you said earlier . . . . you know, how I'd better appreciate what you did for me . . . . well, I appreciate it. I'm a little surprised, but I appreciate it."

"Well, hey, I had to do it. You _are_ my brother, after all. Besides, if I hadn't, who would I have to kick around? Other than that, it was sure to impress Alan, me showing him my nurturing nature, of course."

"Sure, Sis. Whatever you say."

Alexandra just shrugged. Finally, Valerie, Alan, and Rickholan returned.

"Everything's ready," Valerie said. "We've got the ship refueled, and Rickholan has set our navigation so the ship will take us back to Earth."

"Thank goodness," Melody said.

"It's about time," Alexandra said.

Josie, Melody, and Valerie went aboard the ship, changed into their Pussycat costumes, and took out their instruments.

"We'd like to play this farewell number for you, Zollah, and the Ursas, Rickholan," Josie said. "To thank you for helping us."

The Pussycats then began to play the song. Sebastian and Bleep began dancing around to it, as did Alan, Alex, Zollah, and Pickatte. Rickholan tapped his foot to the beat and snapped his fingers. Alexandra rolled her eyes. When the Pussycats were done playing, they went aboard the ship, followed by Alex, Alexandra, Alan, Bleep, and Sebastian. Then they started the ship, and took off.

"Finally, we're heading for home!" Josie shouted, happily.

"Just so long as we can keep a certain someone _off_ the steering wheel," Alexandra said, giving her brother a Look.

"And as long as we can keep another certain someone _away_ from the controls," Alex shot back.

"Golly, it's so nice to have everything back to normal," Melody said, giggling.


	12. Epilogue

It took a few hours, but finally, the Pussycats were headed for Earth. They saw it through the window as they were coming towards it.

"Okay, we're locked on target," Valerie said. "All we have to do is pull this switch . . . ."

"I'll do it," Alexandra said.

"NO!" everyone else shouted at once, as Alex, Melody, Josie, Bleep, and Sebastian jumped on her. All of them crashed to the floor of the craft.

"Hey!" Alexandra shouted. "Get off of me, you bean bags!"

"Sorry, Sis, but we're not taking any chances!" Alex shouted.

"Oooohhh, wait'll I get my hands on you!" Alexandra yelled.

"Better hurry and get this ship down to Earth," Josie said. "I don't know how long we can hold her!"

"Right!" Valerie shouted, and she pulled the switch. Then she jumped into one of the seats, and buckled up.

"Okay, everybody!" she shouted. "Fasten your seat belts!"

Everyone jumped into their seats and buckled up. As a precaution, both Josie and Alex strapped Alexandra into her seat with about four belts so she couldn't get up and mess with the controls.

"Very comical, brother," she said. "_Very_ comical!"

"Like I said, Sis," Alex said, as he buckled his seat belt. "We're not taking any chances!"

Alexandra growled. The space ship then began to bounce a little. It stopped, went forward a bit, stopped again, and finally took off like a shot, downward.

"Uh oh," Alan said. "Something tells me this is going to be a rough landing!"

"Better brace yourselves!" Valerie shouted.

The ship began to fall faster and faster. It didn't even slow down after it broke the Earth's stratosphere. Everyone grabbed onto their seats, and waited for the impact. The ship crashed right through the roof of a building and finally stopped. They ended up in the Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. The patrons in the museum just stared at the ship, wondering what the heck it was. Finally, a door opened, and the Pussycats climbed out.

"Wow, what a landing," Josie asked.

"At least we're back on Earth!" Valerie shouted.

"Thank goodness it's all over!" Alex replied.

"What kinda kooky invasion is this?!" a security guard asked. "What kind of aliens are you?!"

"Oh, we're not aliens," Melody said, with a giggle. "We're Pussycats!"

"Say, ain't you kids that rock group that got launched into space awhile back?" the security guard asked.

"That's us all right," Valerie said. "And let me tell you, it's good to be back!"

"Sorry we crashed through your roof," Melody said. "We didn't know how to land the ship."

"Just send the bill to my father," Alexandra replied. And with that, Josie and the gang left the museum and headed for a hotel.

When the gang got to their hotel rooms, phones began ringing off the hook. Every single magazine in DC was trying to out-scoop each other of the news. And every time Josie or one of the others hung up the phone, it would ring again.

"I'm about to rip that thing right out of the wall," Alexandra groaned as the phone rang again.

"I'll get it," Alex said, picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"Alex! Welcome back to Earth!" the person on the other end said. "So, do I get the exclusive interview or what?"

"Hi, Robert," Alex said with a laugh. "You know you're the tenth person who's called about an interview. And we're gonna tell you the same thing we've told everyone. Not yet."

"Why not?"

"Give us a break, Robert, we've been in outer space for who knows how long! We need a break!"

And with that, Alex hung up the phone. Then he groaned, and practically collapsed onto the bed. The minute he did that, the phone rang again.

"Could somebody else get it?" he asked. "I'm exhausted!"

"I got it," Melody said, picking up the phone. "Hello? Yes, I'm a Pussycat. Yes? It is? You are? You're kidding. You're kidding! You're _kid_ding!"

The others just looked at Melody, wondering what in the world was going on. Then she covered the receiver with her hand and turned to her friends.

"He's kidding," she said.

"Oh brother," Alex groaned.

"Give me the phone, Melody," Josie said, and the drummer handed it over. "Hello? No, that was Melody you were talking to. I'm Josie. Yes? Really? Wow, you're kidding!"

"Here we go again," Valerie said.

"Let me check with the others," Josie said, and she put her hand on the receiver. "Guys, it's the White House calling! The President heard about what happened travels and they want to honor us for our heroics!"

"You're kidding!" Alan shouted.

"Let's not go through _that_ again!" Alexandra shouted.

"We're all invited to the White House tomorrow for it," Josie said. "And all the press is going to be there."

"Tell him we'll do it," Alex said. "Then hang up. I've got to make some calls."

"To who?" Valerie asked.

"Reggie and Robert, for starters," Alex said. "Then Josie's parents, Melody's parents, your parents, Alan's parents, and of course, my parents so my dad can arrange to get everyone back home over here to DC."

"All right, sir," Josie said, turning back to the phone. "We're all set for tomorrow. Thank you!"

Josie hung up the phone, and she, Valerie, and Melody began talking at once, practically squealing with excitement. Alex picked up the phone and made his phone calls.

The next day, the Pussycats and their friends were standing on a stage with the President of the United States, in front of the White House. There were newspaper reporters, photographers, and television camera crews all over the place. The President of the United States and some of the members of his cabinet were with them. The President stood at a podium, and tapped the microphone.

"Is this thing on?" he asked. "Testing, one, two, three . . . . fore score and seven migraines ago . . . ."

"It's on, sir," one of the President's cabinet said, before the President could make a fool of himself.

"Oh," the President said. "Right. Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Americans, and music lovers, we are here today to pay tribute to a very extraordinary feat accomplished by a regular, every day musical group. This musical group has done what no other musical group has done before, and that is go into outer space! We are here to give this special award, honoring the bravery of this all girl trio and their friends, for going above and beyond the call of duty for a musical group. And now, here to accept the award, the front woman of the band, Josie McCoy, of Josie and the Pussycats."

The crowd went wild with applause. Well, except Alexandra. She just gave a couple of half hearted claps. Josie stepped up to the podium, and took the plaque from the President, and shook his hand.

"Thank you very much, Mr. President," she said. "My friends and I are honored to accept this award. We definitely wouldn't have made it back to Earth without the help of Valerie Brown and Alan M. Mayberry, who managed to figure out the ship controls and fix the engines when we needed them."

More applause followed, and then Josie and the Pussycats played a number. When they were finished, the President said a few more words (but no one really paid any attention to him), and the crowd broke up.

A couple of days later, the Pussycats and their friends were back in their hometown, hanging out at Robert's sister's house. Robert's sister, Sadie, was in the kitchen, claiming she was cooking up something for Josie and the gang.

"Some awards ceremony," Alexandra griped. "One plaque for six people."

"And two animals," Melody said, with a giggle.

"Well, it's the thought that counts," Alan said.

"Hmph," Alexandra grumbled.

"Oh, Alexandra, don't be such a spoilsport," Valerie replied.

"Besides, Sis, we wouldn't even have been in that situation if if weren't for you," Alex commented.

"Might I remind you, brother dear," Alexandra said, "that if it also weren't for me, you would not have even made it back? In fact, none of you would've!"

"You know, she's right," Josie said. "If it hadn't been for Alexandra, that giant spider would've gotten us all. She was the one who got rid of it using the Ursa Berries."

"Too bad they were poisonous," Melody said with a sigh. "I would've loved to taste one! They looked so much like strawberries!"

"Well, personally," Alex replied. "I never want to see another strawberry as long as I live!"

"Me neither," Alexandra replied.

"Okay guys!" Sadie called from the kitchen. "I've got something for you!"

Sadie came out of the kitchen carrying a covered tray. Reggie and Robert were behind her.

"When I told her you guys were back on Earth, she wanted to bake you guys something special," Robert said.

"That, and it's my homework for my cooking class," Sadie replied. "I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone."

"Well, we appreciate it, Sadie," Josie said. "Let's see it."

"Okay," Sadie replied. She put the tray on the table, and took the lid off of it, revealing a large, strawberry shortcake, complete with big, red strawberries on the top of it.

"Oooohhh," Alex moaned. "Strawberries. I think I'm gonna faint."

"Move over," Alexandra said. "I think I'm gonna join you!"

And with that, both Alex and Alexandra crashed to the floor. Robert, Reggie, and Sadie stared at them.

"What's the matter with them?" Reggie asked.

"It's kind of a long story," Alan said, and he, the Pussycats, and Bleep began laughing. And, of course, Sebastian snickered.

The End


End file.
